Comparative study of clinical and MRI features of TMD patients with or without joint effusion: a retrospective study

The relationship between joint effusion and temporomandibular disorders (TMD) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation among joint effusion, clinical features and MRI imaging features of TMD.

A total of 1532 temporomandibular joints (TMJs) from 766 patients (605 females and 161 males) with the mean age of 31.68 ± 13.71 years from January 2022 to June 2023 were included in the study. Clinical and MRI features were collected and analyzed. Chi-Square test, Spearman correlation coefficient and binary logistic regression analysis were performed.

Patients with joint effusion were significantly older and had smaller value of MIO (p < 0.001). There were significant differences in the distribution of joint sounds (with or without), joint pain (with or without), disc morphology (biconcave, contracture, irregular and lengthened) and disc position between joint effusion group (JE) and non-joint effusion group (NA) (P < 0.05).The odds of having joint effusion were 1.726 higher in patients with joint sounds when compared to those without joint sounds. The odds of having joint effusion were 8.463 higher in patients with joint pain when compared to those without joint pain. The odds of having joint effusion were 2.277 higher in patients with contracture when compared to those with biconcave. The odds of having joint effusion were 1.740 higher in patients with anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDWR) when compared to those with normal disc position. The prediction accuracy of this model is 74.9%, and the area under curve (AUC) is 79.5%, indicating that it can be used for the prediction and the judgment effect is average.

The results demonstrated that joint sounds, joint pain, contracture, and ADDWR are high risk factors for joint effusion, especially joint pain.

This study was retrospectively registered on 28/03/2022 and endorsed by the Ethics Committee of Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (LCYJ2022014).